


Dark Age Timeline (January-February 754 PCE)

by The_Violet_Howler



Series: Red Rising Timeline Notes (Updated April 2020) [9]
Category: Red Rising Series - Pierce Brown
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Spoilers, Timelines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21668200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Violet_Howler/pseuds/The_Violet_Howler
Summary: A loosely accurate timeline of the fifth Red Rising novel and other events taking place within the novel's time frame, pieced together from references across all Red Rising novels and comics.
Series: Red Rising Timeline Notes (Updated April 2020) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560799
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. January 754 P.C.E.

**Author's Note:**

> Since we still have at least one more novel on the way along with two more volumes for the Sons of Ares comics, I will be coming back to add new details that are referenced in later works.
> 
> All sources are listed in the order they were published in order to avoid having to renumber them every time I add new information to the timeline.
> 
> Exact dates are estimates based on the information provided by the novel. Days of the week were calculated from the confirmation in Iron Gold that October 17, 753 PCE is a Tuesday, on the assumption that the Society and Solar Republic still follow the same 365-day-with-leap-years calendar that the real world does, and that 752 P.C.E. was a leap year.
> 
> If the next novel provides any clarification of unclear time frames in _Dark Age_ , this timeline will be updated accordingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note 1:** It is unclear what day of the week the Day of Red Doves occurs on, only that it is the second week of January, 754 P.C.E. However until the next novel says otherwise, I'm sticking to my interpretation that Virginia's speech is on a Monday and the Day of Red Doves that Thursday. 
> 
> **Note 2:** It is also unclear whether Virginia's meeting with the Zenith ring and the capture of the Duke of Hands take place on the same day as her and Sevro's meeting with Dancer, but given the timing, I believe it is so. 
> 
> **Note 3:** Likewise, the precise timeline of Lysander's trek out of the Ladon is unclear, but I based my dates on the assumption that his "escape" with Alexandar happened on the fifth day of his captivity with the Gorgons, with the Gorgons stringing him up once per day.

### 754 P.C.E.

#### January 

##### Friday January 5

  * Mercury: 
    * Darrow goes to visit among the wounded Republic soldiers and reunites with the old Gamma Helldiver Dago from Lykos among the wounded. [01. 02, 05a, 38] 
      * While flying over the Waste of Ladon, Darrow reminisces with Orion and debates politics with her while gauging her fitness to return to duty.
    * Lysander, Diomedes, and Seraphina arrive over Mercury and meet with Ajax and Kalindora aboard the _Annihilo_ , where Lysander’s DNA is tested to verify his identity. 
      * After some brief posturing from Ajax, Lysander and the Raa siblings are taken to a conference with the heads of the 200 remaining Gold loyalist families in the core.
      * Lysander relays his whereabouts for the last decade and declares his intention to secure an alliance between the Rim and the Core.
    * Darrow and Orion supervise as Harnasus and Glierstes reactivate the last remaining Storm God in preparation for Operation Voyager Cloak. 
      * After Thraxa And Alexandar report that Atlas au Raa is making for the city of Angelia rather than taking the bate at Eleusis, Darrow and the Howlers take to the field.
      * When Darrow arrives, he learns that Atlas gained enough of a lead due to Thraxa and Alex’s sleep deprivation to leave a forest of impaled corpses outside the city.
      * Concerned that Atlas may have guessed part of his plan, Darrow asks Orion how quickly the Storm Gods can be activated before ordering her to initiate Operation Tartarus.
    * As a show of good faith, Lysander and Seraphina are asked to fall in Atalantia’s Iron Rain against the Republic forces on Mercury.
    * Darrow and the Howlers follow Atlas’ trail to an abandoned ore refinery in Angelia. 
      * They discover that Atlas has used the power supply of the refinery’s reactor to cause a chain reaction and destroy the northern shield chain.
      * While nuclear missiles descend from orbit, Darrow begins giving orders to coordinate the Free Legions as the Iron Rain begins.
    * Lysander falls in the Rain along with Kalindora, Seraphina, and Ajax. 
      * After breaching the atmosphere, they fly north to make a secure landfall with the Thunderbolt Legion to make landfall for the first wave to assault Heliopolis.
    * Darrow and the Howlers fly across Mercury in the _Necromancer_ to resupply at Skyhook Eleven. 
      * While restocking, the station is hit by an atomic bomb and decimated.
      * Darrow orders Colloway to take the _Necromancer_ to help Thraxa retreat from Kydon to Tyche while he heads for Tyche with the Second Army to ensure Tyche remains secure.
    * While crossing the Ladon, Lysander’s battle group is joined by the First Cohort Praetorian Guard under the command of SubLegate Rhone ti Flavinius. 
      * Though the Praetorians swear allegiance to Lysander, he is quick to discourage notions that he seeks to become Sovereign.
      * As they approach Heliopolis, the Storm Gods come online and begin generating hypercanes over the Sycorax sea and a massive sandstorm over the Ladon.
    * With his knowledge of the Storm Gods, Lysander is able to predict Darrow’s plan, so Ajax sends him, Kalindora, and Seraphina to bring down the one in the desert. 
      * En route to the eye of the storm, they link up with Cicero au Votum’s Scorpion Legion, sent by his father to prevent Atalantia from seizing Heliopolis for herself.
      * The two forces arrive at the Storm God and quickly come under fire as Seraphina au Raa is killed by a rail slug launched from the garrison stationed on the ancient weather machine.
    * The storm continues to escalate in strength as Darrow arrives in Tyche to find a third of the city flooded. 
      * Darrow orders Orion to turn off the storm, but she continues to escalate to Terraforming Level Four, intending to scour the surface and cripple the Society, feeling that the complicit citizens of Mercury a worthwhile sacrifice.
      * Darrow initiates the override he installed in the Storm Gods as insurance and forcibly disconnects Orion from the sync, killing her and averting planetary destruction.
    * Darrow argues with Alexandar over the Arcosian knights’ request to deter the Ash Legions remaining in Tyche from seizing the gravLoop and evacuating into Heliopolis.
    * Screwface, having spent the last three years undercover in Atlantia’s Thunderbolt Legions, breaks cover and returns to the Free Legions to warn Darrow of the assault on Heliopolis. 
      * Faced with the cost of Orion’s insubordination, Darrow orders Rhonna to return to the _Morning Star_ and Thraxa to relay orders to relive Heliopolis.
    * Darrow relents and allows House Arcos to aid the evacuation of Tyche before he withdraws from the city with the Second Army to cross the Ladon to Heliopolis.



##### Saturday, January 6

  * Mercury: 
    * Lysander awakens at 0630 in the morning and regroups with Rhone, Kalindora, Cicero, and their surviving legions. [03] 
      * Lysander calls Ajax to be evacuated, but Aja’s son tells the grandson of Octavia that he is on his own.
      * Refusing to die in their feud, Cicero departs with two dozen of his men who still have enough power in their armor for flight.
      * With their armor power depleted and no way to evacuate, Lysander and the rest of the group prepare to make their stand at the downed Storm God as Darrow’s army approaches.
    * The Reaper defeats Lune’s unit with minimal effort and continues on to Heliopolis, leaving Lysander trapped beneath a fallen starShell as a broken boot thruster burns his face. 
      * The Second Army arrives in Heliopolis to find Ajax’s army assaulting the city.
      * Screwface departs to scout for potential attack points.
      * While they wait for Screwface, Darrow’s force is ambushed by Gorgons under the command of Atlas au Raa himself.
      * Before the Gorgons can castrate and kill Darrow, Colloway xe Char arrives with the Morning Star, distracting the enemy long enough for Darrow to break free.
      * With Atlas au Raa driven off, the First Army surges into Heliopolis.
      * Combat against the Legio XX Fulminata lasts well into the afternoon.
      * After hours of combat and days without sleep, Darrow suffers a heart attack as the exhaustion of the battle finally catches up to him.
      * While Darrow recovers in the reception chamber of the Votum family estate, Thraxa arrives that night to declare that victory is theirs. [04] 
    * Scavengers descend from the mountains to sift through the bodies in the Ladon and harvest weapons and electronics. [10b] 
      * Rhone and Kalindora free Lysander from where he was pinned and guide him away to where the survivors are exchanging water caches and bandaging wounds.
      * Rhone returns to the killing field to rescue more Praetorians from their suits, but is captured by Republic soldiers, who herd the survivors into shuttles before taking them to Heliopolis as prisoners of war.



##### Monday January 8

  * Luna: 
    * Aboard the SRN dreadnought _Echo of Ares_ , Virginia gives a speech urging the citizens of the Republic to pressure their senators into sending reinforcements to the Free Legions. [06] 
      * Meanwhile, prototype orbital rail guns discreetly launch pods full of relief supplies towards Mercury.
    * While descending from orbit, Virginia and Holiday ruminate on politics before Dancer calls to discuss Virginia’s speech. 
      * Virginia and Holiday arrive at Dictaeon Antron, a skyshook serving as the personal offices of Senator Daxo au Telemanus and informal headquarters of the Optimate Party.
      * After joining Daxo’s meeting with Senator Caraval, Virginia gives instructions to the Optimate political aides in preparation for the coming vote.



##### Wednesday January 10

  * Luna: 
    * During a meeting with the Silvers’ Zenith Ring, Virginia destroys one of Quicksilver’s sculptures with an anti-tank rifle in answer to Quicksilver’s demands. [07, 08a, 08b] 
      * Virginia leaves the meeting with a warning to the oligarchs that the Republic doesn’t need them as much as they need the Republic.
      * After the meeting, Virginia receives an update about Sevro’s latest assassination of a Syndicate leader and reviews the crime scene via hologram from the privacy of her office.
    * While reflecting on her late brother’s old puzzles, Holiday arrives to inform her that Theodora’s agents have captured the Duke of Hands. 
      * After interrogating and tweaking the Duke’s memories at the black site with psycho-Spikes, Virginia steps out for a tea break with Theodora and Holiday.
      * When Sevro and the Howlers arrive, she berates them for their impulsiveness and reveals that she knew Victra’s plans all along.
      * With Sevro back on her side, Virginia finishes her interrogation of the Duke before going through his memories and realizing that the Duke was in regular contact with Dancer.
    * Mustang and Sevro privately confront Dancer about his association with the Duke of Hands. Dancer is initially outraged, believing they’re trying to use his sexuality to blackmail him. 
      * Once he learns who his lover really was and Mustang explains her plans, he agrees to convince the other Vox moderates to vote in favor of sending the Lunese fleet to reinforce the Free Legions.



##### Thursday January 11

  * Luna: 
    * The Solar Republic Senate prepares to vote over whether to send reinforcements to Mercury. [11c] 
      * Before he can finish giving his opening remarks, Dancer and several of his supporters drop dead from poison released by the Syndicate.
      * Senator Caraval accuses Virginia of murdering her political opponents, and a Vox Populi mob storms the Citadel.
    * Virginia and the Optimates flee the senate. 
      * Daxo is killed by the Syndicate Queen, now revealed as Lilath au Faran, before Virginia herself is captured.
  * Mars: 
    * In the immediate aftermath of the violence in the Senate, Ephraim and the children are quickly shuttled from Olympia onto a military shuttle to be transported to the _Heart of Venus_. [12a, 12b] 



##### Friday-January 12

  * Niobe au Telemanus sets off for Luna with the Ecliptic Guard to demand Virginia’s return.



##### Sunday January 14

  * Mars: 
    * In the morning, Ephraim and the children arrive on the _Heart of Venus_. [12c, 12d, 12e] 
      * Sefi informs Pax of his mother’s apparent death at the hands of the mob.
    * After disposing of an attempted assassin, Sefi explains to Ephraim her plan for seizing the mines of Cimeria to give Alltribe financial leverage over the Republic.



##### Tuesday January 16

  * Mercury: 
    * After searching in vain for his sister’s body, Diomedes au Raa returns to the Rim to deliver Atalantia’s terms of allegiance to the Moon Council. [34a] 



##### Wednesday January 17

  * Mercury: 
    * Atalantia threatens to nuke Heliopolis if he and his legions do not surrender. [09]
    * Darrow calls her bluff and reminds Atalantia that her position is too precarious for her to actually follow through on those threats.
    * Darrow leaves Thraxa, Colloway, Harnassus, Screwface, and the rest of the Free Legions’ high command to decide all of their fates and returns to his quarters to brood.
    * Atalantia contacts Darrow to taunt and demoralize him with the footage of what she calls The Day of Red Doves.
    * In a meeting with his war council, Darrow recuses himself from deciding their present course on the grounds that he cannot be unbiased in the conversation.



##### Thursday January 18

  * Mercury: 
    * As they walk through the city, they witness the pods full of relief supplies launched from Earth by Sun Industries landing in the waters offshore. [05b, 11a, 11b, 11c] 
    * After listening to Mustang’s message, Darrow reminisces with Thraxa as she escorts him to the war room to hear the high command’s decision.
    * With his hope renewed by Mustang’s message, Darrow formulates a plan and summons Glirastes to put it into motion.
    * Darrow awakens in the early morning to find Screwface, who attempts to get him out walking among the troops, thinking he might need it.
    * Harnassus declares the group’s decision by firing the city’s particle beams into orbit and destroying one of Atalanatia’s dreadnoughts.
    * Cicero au Votum tells Lysander and Kalindora the story of his first encounter with Darrow. [10a, 10c, 10d] 



##### Friday January 19

  * Mercury: 
    * Lysander, Kalindora, and Cicero’s group continue their trek across the desert when they encounter another sandstorm heading their way. [13, 14] 
      * The group races for cover, but Lysander cannot make it in time, and is forced to backtrack and hide inside a hydra burrow they had passed a few minutes before.
      * After the sandstorm passes, he emerges to find that his allies have all been captured by the Republic.
    * When he is alone, Lysander hears the voice of Apollonius au Valii-Rath critiquing his performance as Seneca arrives with a squad of Iron Leopards with orders from Ajax to kill him.
      * Using the Mind’s Eye, Lysander manages to kill Seneca and all of his men. 
      * Afterwards, he convinces Apollonius not to kill him by offering him a good show. 
      * Not convinced Apollonius isn't a dehydration-induced hallucination, Lysander continues his trek out of the desert. 



##### Sunday January 21

  * Mars: 
    * Sefi and the Obsidians raid the Helium mines of Cirenia and seize them from Sun Industries in order to fully secure the land for the Alltribe. [12f, 15a] 
  * Mercury: 
    * Lysander uses the last of the water stolen from Seneca au Cern. [16a]



##### Monday January 22

  * Mars: 
    * After the successfull seizure of the Helium mines, Ozgard gets Ephraim drunk. [18a] 



##### Tuesday January 23

  * Mercury:
    * After leaving the desert, Lysander finds an abandoned farmhouse with an aloe plant growing in the garden that he uses to treat the burn on his face. [16b]
      * After tending to his wound, he sets about restoring power to the farm so that he can get himself cleaned up and fed.



##### Tuesday January 23

  * Mercury:
    * After leaving the desert, Lysander finds an abandoned farmhouse with an aloe plant growing in the garden that he uses to treat the burn on his face. [16c] 
      * After tending to his wound, he sets about restoring power to the farm so that he can get himself cleaned up and fed.



##### Wednesday January 24

  * Mars: 
    * Ephraim finally comes down from his post-victory hangover and tells the kids what happened. [18a] 



##### Thursday January 25

  * Lysander leaves the farm and sets out towards Erebos.



##### Friday January 26

  * Mars: 
    * To commemorate the beginning of winter on Mars’ south pole, Sefi and her Valkyrie hunt a Nidhoggr ice drake, representing the bringer of winter in Obsidian mythology. [18b] 
  * Mercury: 
    * As he walks towards the Valley of Erebos, Lysander encounters a family of Red refugees displaced by the Republic’s invasion. [16d, 16e] 
    * After being reassured that Lysander isn’t part of the Republic, the family informs him of the recent movement of Society forces.
    * Later that morning, Lysander arrives at the ruins of Erebos and finds the entire city flooded. As he travels amidst the ruins, he finds four hundred Republic soldiers impaled by Atlas au Raa as a message.
    * In the Fear Knight’s mountain base, Lysander is thrown in a cell to await interrogation. His cellmates are his cousins Alexandar, Drusilla, and Crastus au Arcos.



##### Monday January 29

  * Mercury 
    * In order to keep Glirastes happy, Darrow goes to retrieve anchovies from Sevro's armory. [22a, 22b] 



##### Tuesday January 30

  * Mars: 
    * Sefi and her Valkyrie bring down their sacred hunt, though Pax is blamed for not properly storing Sefi’s bow, preventing her from killing it herself. [18b, 19a, 19b] 
      * The E _cho of Ragnar_ sets down on the ice and Obsidian begin cutting off the drake’s parts to be cooked or used.
      * Ozgard invites Ephriam to join in the ceremonies since he slew the Drake to protect Sefi.
      * When Valdir strikes up a conversation with him, Ephriam warns the man that Sefi knows about his affair with Freihild.
      * After a heart to heart over the latter’s backstory, Ephriam and Ozgard go in search of Freihild to discuss her affair with Valdir, only to find her dead in what remains of Alia Snowsparrow’s throne room.
      * The two men are ambushed by a man claiming to be the Ascomanni king Volsung Fa, who declares his intention to challenge Sefi for her throne.
      * The Obsidian are skeptical of Ephriam and Ozgard’s testimony, but Sefi at least is willing to accept the possibility that the Kuiper Ascomanni are real.
      * In response to Freihild’s death, Valdir murders Sefi’s griffin and taunts his queen’s desire to make Volga her heir.
      * Sefi reveals that though she was bred in a lab, Volga is in fact the daughter of Ragnar Volarus.
      * Sefi’s efforts to modernize the Obsidians are meant to ensure that Volga can be accepted as queen and a person after her aunt succumbs to Atalantia’s poison.



##### Wednesday January 31 

  * Mars: 
    * The Pandora is attacked in orbit by the original Ascomani from the Kuiper Belt. [20a] 
    * Volga and Lyria flee with Figment, while Victra gives the order to abandon ship as her security forces are overwhelmed.
    * The Ascomani begin dumping bodies from the Pandora over Alltribe lands, provoking Sefi to isolate her people from the rest of Mars.
    * Ephraim manages to smuggle Pax and Electra out of Olympia aboard the Snowball so that they can search for survivors.
    * During the escape, Pax and Electra cut out the heartspike Sefi had implanted in Ephraim’s chest as insurance.
    * After their escape craft crashes on Mars, Lyria and Volga search for survivors.
    * Lyria encounters Figment dying from her wounds, and takes the black orb the freelancer had been carrying.
    * As figment dies, a squid-like parasite crawls out of Figment's body and into Lyria's, replaying a recorded message before going dormant.
    * Volga and Lyria find Victra in the snow, but despite their anger at the woman for holding them prisoner, neither of them can bring themselves to harm her.
    * The three women are forced to flee on foot when the Red Hand approaches the crash site of Victra's shuttle.
  * Mercury:   

    * Lysander finally receives an audience with Atlas au Raa. [23a, 23b, 23c, 23d] 
    * They proceed to discuss the events of the last few weeks and make plans for Lysander to infiltrate Heliopolis so that they can liberate it before Atalantia’s chemical attack. 
    * During their conversation, Atlas reveals that Ajax is envious of Lysander because he is in an incestuous relationship with his aunt and sees the Lune heir as competition for Atalantia's attention. 
    * While the Gorgons are escorting him back to his cell, Lysander stages his escape, freeing his cousins and taking Atlas prisoner before leading them out of the base.
    * Lysander, Alexandar, Crastus, and Drsuilla flee across the Ladon with the captive Fear Knight in tow as Alexandar frantically sends out a distress signal to the Howlers.
    * Crastus and Drusilla are killed by pursuing Gorgons before Darrow and the Howlers arrive to airlift Lysander, Alexandar and their prisoner back to Heliopolis.[24a, 24b] 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [01] DA Ch 01; “I’ll handle Harnassus today.”  
> [02] DA Ch 06; ““We will begin discussion tomorrow atop the Water Colossus of Tyche,” Atalantia says. The Raa look at each other then at the planet below. “Today, however, I require a demonstration of good faith.””  
> [03] DA Ch 16; “The morning smells of petrichor and ozone.”  
> [04] DA Ch 17; “In the early hours of the night, there is a commotion in the hall outside.”  
> [05] DA Ch 18;  
> [a] “On Friday evening last, the third day of the Mensis Martius, I received a brief from the brave men and women of the Republic Reconnaissance Division. This brief, gleaned from our human and mechanical network of sensors, telescopes, scout ships, and informants throughout the Core, indicated that a large-scale Society military operation was under way in the orbit of Mercury.  
> [b] “At that moment, three hundred eighty-four thousand kilometers from my heart, in orbit one thousand kilometers above the wayward continent of South Pacifica, a new battery of twin prototype railguns, named the Twins of South Pacifica for Earth’s favorite son and daughter, set their telescopic signs on a path of empty space ten days ahead of Mercury’s orbital path and fire at full power.”  
> [06] DA Ch 20; “Three days from today, we vote to save eight million lives.”  
> [07] DA Ch 26; “With Daxo managing the vote hunt, I have precious time to spare to search for evidence they missed, just no time at all for my untouched dinner.”  
> [08] DA Ch 29;  
> [a] “A Pachelbel sings mournfully out the window as I sit on the edge of my son’s bed in darkness.”  
> [b] “The vote is tomorrow.”  
> [09] DA Ch 33; "I walk along the lower balconies where night mist beads on the stone walls."  
> [10] DA Ch 34;  
> [a] “The Killing Field was days ago.”  
> [b] “When the sun dipped behind the mountains, the nocturnal predators came to feast on the dead.”  
> [c] “In late afternoon, we discover the remains of a stork crashed into the sand.”  
> [d] “Soon after nightfall we hear ships in the sky.”  
> [11] DA Ch 35;  
> [a] “I’m woken in the early morning by a presence.”  
> [b] “Also included are the intelligence reports of the System’s current standing. They will be two weeks old, so use them wisely.”  
> [c] “Five days from the time this message was recorded, we will have voted, and the fleet will either be under way when you receive this, or it will not.”  
> [d] “Summon the Master Maker Glirastes.”  
> [12] DA Ch 37;  
> [a] “Down in the city, candles flicker from broken windows and atop crumbling towers. A sea of them move through the street. The forbidden song drifts ominously in the wind.”  
> [b] “Instead of being taken to the throne room, we’re led through the night to an armored military shuttle.”  
> [c] “The military shuttle has no view windows in the bunkrooms or mess we’re sequestered within for the three-day voyage, but all of us can feel the calm before the storm.”  
> [d] “On the fourth day, the vibration of landing gears reverberates through the ship.”  
> [e] “How long have you known? Three days? You cold bitch.”  
> [f] “In one week’s time, we take mines of Cimmeria, and the continent as our homeland.”  
> [13] DA Ch 38; “I wake feeling more tired than before I slept. It is still dark out.”  
> [14] DA Ch 39; “I watch through a fissure in the hull as seven armored men land in the night.”  
> [15] DA Ch 41; “Freezing wind pours in like the breath of a cold god, and Sefi is baptized in moonlight ahead of her bloodguard Valkyrie.  
> [16] DA Ch 42;  
> [a] “I run through the water I stole from Ajax’s assassins in two days.”  
> [b] “On my fourth day, I find the rotting carcass of a glass leviathan somehow swept in from the sea.”  
> [c] “I set back out two mornings after arriving at the farm.  
> [d] “I sleep under a grapefruit tree and the next morning come across a family of sunbaked Red natives walking a country road pushing a cart full of their life’s belongings.”  
> [e] “By late morning, I summit a hill that looks down into the Valley of Erebos and see for myself.”  
> [f] “I sit down, finally feeling the exhaustion of the last week in my bones.”  
> [17] DA Ch 43; “Clouds eddy across the darkening sky as the gravBikes slow to go single file along a mountain track.


	2. February 754 P.C.E.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note 1:** The specific time frames for Mustang's rescue and return to Mars are unclear, only that it happens after the Pandora falls (approximately 3 weeks after the Day of Red Doves) and before the Long Night (approximately 3.5-4 weeks after the Day of Red Doves). 
> 
> **Note 2:** Likewise, the timing of Lysander's triumph is unclear, only that it happens before Volsung Fa overthrows Sefi (about 5 weeks after the Day of Red Doves, so 1-1.5 weeks after the Long Night). However I have chosen to put the date of Lysander's Triumph as February 13th, 754 P.C.E., as I felt that, just like the idea of Darrow's Triumph in _Golden Son_ occurring on the Ides of March, having Kalindora the _Love_ Knight die on Valentine's Day was too poetic to ignore. 
> 
> **Note 3:** Earth being retaken by the Rim and the Society the day before Mustang's return to Mars is based on the time difference established in _Iron Gold_ where Darrow's Triumph on Luna took place during the day but it was already night on Mars. Since it is morning on Mars when Virginia learns that Earth has fallen, that means that on Earth time, it happened the night before.

#### February

##### Thursday February 1

  * Mercury: 
    * Lysander is released to Glirastes custody. [24c, 25] 
      * That night, Glirastes and Lysander discuss the latter's plans to retake Heliopolis for the Society before Atalantia's attack. 
      * Exeter and the rest of Glirastes' staff volunteer their services to assist Lysander in any way they can. 



##### Friday February 2

  * Luna: 
    * After weeks of interrogation, Virginia is placed on trial by Caraval’s new People’s Tribunal. 
      * Before the trial can begin, the proceedings are interrupted by the arrival of Lilath and the surviving Boneriders, angered at Publius’ attempt to dispose of them.
      * With the People’s Tribunal held captive in the Citadel along with Sevro and the Howlers, Lilath unveils her master: a clone of the late Adrius “The Jackal” au Augustus.
    * Adrius II has all of the Howlers but Sevro, Clown, and Pebble executed by cooking them inside an enormous iron wolf, while threatening to use Virginia’s psycho-spikes to completely erase Sevro’s mind. 
      * While being forced to attend a banquet the Boneriders hold to celebrate their takeover of Luna, Virginia manages to start driving a wedge between Adrius II and Lilath by not only easily solving the puzzles the clone creates, but also revealing that she still keeps all the puzzles the original Adrius made stored in her office.
      * While talking with her brother’s clone in her office, Virginia manages to distract him and Lilath with Night Lilies and throw herself into an escape tunnel out of the Citadel.
      * Wounded by Lilath during her escape, Virginia is taken to the Reynard as the Telemanus fleet fights their way through the Vox blockade to escape Luna. [21a, 21b] 
    * Despite her desire to go back and rescue them, Virginia is forced to leave Sevro and the Howlers behind as she sails for Mars, as Kavax has revealed that they’ve received warning the Rim is coming.
  * Mercury: 
    * Glirastes vouches for Lysander’s cover identity of Cato au Vitruvius, and after running the young man through every lie detector and fact checking methods they have, Darrow releases “Cato” to the Master Maker’s custody.
    * That night, Lysander and Glirastes discuss Lysander’s plan to retake Heliopolis with the aid of the loyal mid and lowColors of the city.



##### Tuesday February 6

  * Mercury: 
    * The Long Night 
      * Glirastes and Lysander activate the EMP inside the Morning Star, crippling the defenses of the Republic stronghold and allowing Lysander to liberate the Society prisoners. [32] 
      * After a fighting retreat through the streets of Heliopolis, Darrow and the surviving Free Legions prepare to make their last stand when Cassius arrives to evacuate them aboard the Archimedes.
      * Their departure is witnessed by Lysander, who keeps Cassius’ survival a secret to avoid suspicion of deception by the Society Remnant.



##### Tuesday February 13

  * Mercury: 
    * Lysander’s triumph is held in the rebuilt Heliopolis. 
      * Despite his protests, the Praetorian guard wear the House Lune crest on their ceremonial uniforms. [34b] 
    * At the top of the Triumphal steps in Heliopolis, Lysander proposes marriage to Atalantia to permanently unite House Lune and House Grimmus and maintain a show of unity. 
      * Atalantia agrees to the match and holds off on assassinating Lysander.
      * After the Triumph, she takes him up to her quarters on the Annihilo to consummate their impending union.



##### Wednesday February 14

  * Mercury: 
    * After waking up in Atalantia’s bed, Lysander returns to the surface to visit Kalindora as she slips away from poisoning. [35a, 35b] 
    * Kalindora confesses to the bombing of Anastasia and Brutus’ shuttle, detailing how Lysander’s parents were plotting a coup against Octavia with support from Nero au Augustus and Revus au Raa.
    * Kalindora reveals that after the deaths of his parents, Octavia erased Lysander’s memories of his parents so that he would stop mourning them. Horrified, Lysander flees the villa.
    * Kalindora succumbs to the poison that night. Lysander and the Grimmus send her remains into the sun with a traditional Gold sendoff.


  * Mars: 
    * Two days after her water breaks, Victra gives birth to her firstborn son, Ulysses au Barca, with the assistance of Lyria. [26] 
    * The owner of the cabin they are staying in is revealed to be a Red Hand spy.
    * During the ensuing fight, Lyria and the other two women are separated.
    * Victra, and Volga are captured by the Red Hand, and Lyria returns to the cabin to find Ulysses nailed to a tree outside.
    * Lyria learns that the Red Hand are operating out of an abandoned helium mine nearby and forcing the locals to provide them with child brides. 
    * Lyria examines the box she found on Figment’s corpse and discovers several acid pouches disguised to look like false teeth.



##### Thursday February 15

  * Mars: 
    * With the false teeth concealed on her person, Lyria infiltrates the Red Hand base and recruits the incoming brides to fight back. [27] 
      * Following the wedding ceremony, Lyria and the girls kill their would-be husbands using the acid-filled teeth and proceed to wreak havoc in the Red Hand base.
      * After putting out a general distress call to all of Mars, Lyria is caught and imprisoned with Victra in what used to be the mine’s administrative complex.
      * Using another acid tooth to free themselves, Lyria and Victra proceed to hunt Harmony through the base until they confront her and throw her into a nest of adult pitVipers.
    * Ephraim and the kids receive Lyria’s distress signal and boost it so that all of Mars can here, then fly off to the rescue. 
      * Former Sons and Republic veterans arrive en masse to aid in the destruction of the Red Hand, while Pax destroys the Red Hand’s torchShip.
      * As the people of Mars rally to help round up the last of the Red Hand, Ephraim is reunited with Volga, and Lyria convinces Victra not to kill Ephraim on sight. [28] 



##### Friday February 16

  * Mars: 
    * After spending the night recovering at the Julii estate in Hippolyte, Ephraim and Pax determine with help from Lyria that Xenophon has been manipulating Sefi all along. 
    * After taking Volga to visit Trigg's grave and saying his goodbyes, Ephraim heads back to Olympia to expose Xenophon and help Sefi maintain control of Alltribe. [29a, 29b, 30]
    * After informing Ozgard of Xenophon’s treachery, Ephraim learns that Xenophon has allegedly arranged a peace summit between the Republic and the Alltribe.
    * While Ozgard leads the Skuggi to free Valdir from prison, Ephraim infiltrates Xenophon’s rooms and discovers that the logos is in fact a Gorgon agent operating under orders from Atlas au Raa himself.
    * Xenophon attempts to render Ephraim unconscious with the heartspike. Ephraim attempts to play along, but one of Xenophon’s Ascomani kicks him in the head.
    * When Ephriam awakes, Xenophon has framed him in front of Sefi for his own crimes.
    * The Gorgon convinces Sefi to let Ephriam live long enough to witness Sefi’s speech the following morning.
  * Mercury: 
    * Lysander beings overseeing the reconstruction of Tyche. [33c] 



##### Saturday February 17 

  * Mars: 
    * In the morning, Ephriam and Ozgard are dragged into Griffinhold before Sefi’s war council, where the Obsidian queen declares war against Volsung Fa. [31, 33b] 
    * Xenophon reveals his true colors to announce the arrival of Volsung Fa, proclaiming the Ascomanni king as the father of Ragnar and Emperor of the Obsidian.
    * Sefi duels Fa for the throne of Alltribe, but the Gorgon puppet ultimately dethrones and eats her before telling the Obsidians to sack Olympia.
    * Fa orders Xenophon to kill Ephriam using the heartspike Sefi had implanted in the freelancer and make it look as if a heart attack had killed him.
    * Ephriam had planted the heartspike in Xenophon’s pocket, killing the logos when the explosive Pax attached to it disintegrate him.
    * In retaliation, Volsung Fa rips out Ephraim’s heart and eats it as he dies.



##### Tuesday February 20

  * Mars: 
    * Martian ships led by House Barca arrive at Olympia to provide aid to the other Colors after the Obsidians depart. [33c] 
    * Victra, Lyria, Volga, and the children hold a funeral for Ulysses au Barca. [33a] 
    * While Victra would prefer sending her newborn’s remains into the sun per Aureate custom, she gives Ulysses a burial so that Sevro can visit their child’s grave once he is rescued.



##### Wednesday February 21

  * Mars: 
    * Volga and Lyria load Ephraim’s body into a racing ship to return him to Earth for burial when acting ArchGovernor Kieran O’Lykos arrives with a Sons of Ares escort. [33d, 33e, 33f] 
    * Kieran reveals that word has reached Mars about the fall of Heliopolis and explains that Volsung Fa is offering to leave Mars in exchange for Volga.
    * Volga agrees to leave Mars with the Obsidian so that she can get close to Volsung Fa and kill him in revenge for Ephriam’s death.
    * After the Obsidians depart, Pax comes to Lyria with information about the parasite she inherited from Figment and how it could be used to help Volga.



##### Thursday February 22

  * Diomedes and Ajax lead the combined forces of the Rim and the Core to retake Earth. [36b]



##### Friday February 23

  * Virginia arrives on Mars and flies the Iron Circle at Kavax’s urging. [36a]
  * After reconciling with Victra, Pax delivers news that Earth has fallen.



##### Saturday February 24

  * As the reconstruction of Tyche begins, Lysander ventures out into the desert where he recruits Apollonius, promising vengeance and glory in exchange for his services. [37a, 37b] 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [18] DA Ch 44;  
> [a] “Ozgard got me drunk for three solid days.”  
> [b] “For six days the Valkyrie have stalked their prey.”  
> [19] DA Ch 46;  
> [a] “Only the light of braziers holds back the winter night.”  
> [b] “Only hours ago, Freihild was so full of life.”  
> [20] DA Ch 52; “The Pandora fell to ships bearing Alltribe colors at 0930 Olympia time.”  
> [21] DA Ch 57;  
> [a] ““Has Heliopolis fallen?” I ask. “Not yet,” Kavax says. “But our agents say it only has days left.””  
> [b] “We don’t know why, but it occurred immediately after the Pandora was hit.”  
> [22] DA Ch 58;  
> [a] “The fact that I find catharsis in profanity while endeavoring to fit three years’ worth of research into three weeks of practical application does not reflect upon my enthusiasm for the work, which is little, nor the necessity, which is great.”  
> [b] “Tomorrow is Tuesday and he’s fresh out.”  
> [23] DA Ch 59;  
> [a] “Some time in the morning, on what must be my fourth day with them, Ignacius and Drusilla are taken away.”  
> [b]  
> [c] “For two weeks my men have failed to get me inside Heliopolis.”  
> [d] “You have five days until the chemical attack.”  
> [24] DA Ch 61;  
> [a] “We’re woken sometime in the night by a medicus.”  
> [b] “The cold woman has not even the faint trace of a smile as she tells us that Alexandar survived and we can see him in the morning.”  
> [c] ““Gods no, it’s a Thursday,” Glirastes says.”  
> [25] DA Ch 64; “Four days before the strike.”  
> [26] DA Ch 65; “Even after two weeks of plodding through rain and snow and sleeping under the shelter of trees, she manages to look glamorous.”  
> [27] DA Ch 68; “By morning, I’m schlepping over the frosted snow toward the base, trying not to limp for the pliers in my shoe.”  
> [28] DA Ch 71; “I took the night shift today.”  
> [29] DA Ch 74;  
> [a] “Over the pot, we share our stories as the sun sets over Attica.”  
> [b] “I could have left in the night, but she would have followed, and she doesn’t deserve that from me.”  
> [30] DA Ch 75; “The night guardsmen on the ice-slick cobbles below are easy to avoid with my spider gloves and thermal dampening suit.”  
> [31] DA Ch 77; “Early beams of sunlight warm the frosted stone of the plaza at the top of the Bellona Stairs.”  
> [32] DA Ch 78; “Glirastes has informed me that Darrow’s departure is imminent, as is Atalantia’s attack. Somewhere out beyond the mountains, her bombers fuel to deliver their payloads.”  
> [33] DA Ch 88;  
> [a] “If family blood spills by your debt, you swim to the sun. You may look back when it is gone.”  
> [b] “She waited at the landing pads for twelve hours before somehow duping the Julii guards and stealing a ship.”  
> [c] “Julii military and aid ships were the first to descend on Olympia three days later when Fa and the Obsidians left it in a heap of rubble and corpses.”  
> [d] “In the morning, Volga and I load the coffin containing Ephraim’s remains onto a Julii racing ship that Victra has given us for the journey.”  
> [e] “I watch from a tower on Victra’s estate as the Obsidian ships disappear into the evening sky.”  
> [f] “He goes quiet. “I recently learned my mother has come back to life.””  
> [34] DA Ch 89;  
> [a] “I would ask the man, but he departed Mercury to prepare the Rim’s entrance into the war long before Heliopolis’s liberation. Pytha told me searched the Ladon for ten days for his sister before departing with a heavy heart.”  
> [b] Today is the first day since recapturing Heliopolis that the city does not rattle with sounds of construction. The cranes are quiet in the sky today, but the streets bubble with noise.”  
> [c] “Three days from now, I would like for you to break ground and lead the restoration of Tyche personally.”  
> [35] DA Ch 90;  
> [a] “I have felt dirty since I awoke with Atalantia.”  
> [b] “That night, she sends for me.”  
> [36] DA Ch 91;  
> [a] “The burial stone is wet with morning rain.”  
> [b] "Earth has fallen."  
> [37] DA Ch 92;  
> [a] “Ajax is on Earth. It must be done.”  
> [b] “The Free Legions are broken. Darrow is in flight. Luna is run by a madman. Mars trampled by Obsidians. Earth fallen to the Rim and the Society.”  
> [38] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martius_(month); “Mensis Martius was the first month of the ancient Roman year until possibly as late as 153 BC.”


End file.
